Personal Injury Glossary

It’s hard to fight for your rights when you don’t even have the language to describe what’s happening to you.

When you’re trying to recover from your injuries and get your life back on track, and suddenly you’re bombarded with terms like “negligence,” “liability,” and “statute of limitations,” it can be overwhelming, frustrating, and leave you feeling powerless.

That’s why we’ve put together this glossary of essential personal injury terms. As your personal injury attorneys, we believe that understanding these terms is the first step in regaining control of your situation.

But remember, you don’t have to navigate this alone. We’re here to guide you every step of the way, starting with helping you understand the language of personal injury law.

Glossary Terms

A

Accident Reconstruction: The scientific process of investigating, analyzing, and drawing conclusions about the causes and events during a vehicle collision or other accident.

Actual Cash Value: The amount of money an item is worth considering its current condition, age and usefulness, often used in property damage cases.

Adjuster: An insurance company employee who investigates claims and recommends settlement options.

Admissible Evidence: Evidence that can be legally and properly introduced in a civil or criminal trial.

Affidavit: A written statement made under oath, verified by a notary public or other authorized officer.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): Methods of resolving disputes outside the courtroom, including arbitration and mediation.

Assumption of Risk: A defense used in negligence lawsuits, asserting that the plaintiff knew the risks involved in a situation and voluntarily accepted them.

B

Bad Faith: When an insurance company unreasonably denies or delays payment of a valid claim.

Bifurcation: Separating a trial into two parts, usually liability and damages.

Bodily Injury: Physical damage to a person’s body.

Breach of Duty: Failure to act as a reasonable person would have acted in a similar situation.

Burden of Proof: The obligation to prove one’s allegations in court.

C

Causation: The link between a defendant’s actions and the plaintiff’s injuries.

Civil Law: The body of law dealing with private rights and remedies, as opposed to criminal matters.

Class Action Lawsuit: A lawsuit where a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court.

Collateral Source Rule: A rule preventing the admission of evidence that the plaintiff has received compensation from some source other than the damages sought against the defendant.

Comparative Negligence: A principle of tort law that compares the fault of each party in a lawsuit to determine damage awards. Illinois follows a modified comparative negligence rule.

Compensatory Damages: Money awarded to compensate for actual losses or injuries.

Complaint: The initial document filed to begin a civil lawsuit.

Contingency Fee: An arrangement where a lawyer’s fee is based on a percentage of the amount recovered in a case.

D

Damages: Money awarded to a plaintiff as compensation for injury or loss.

Defendant: The party being sued in a civil lawsuit.

Demand Letter: A formal letter sent by an injured party (or their attorney) to the at-fault party’s insurance company, outlining the facts of the case, the extent of injuries and damages, and demanding a specific amount of compensation.

Deposition: Out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that is reduced to writing for later use in court or for discovery purposes.

Discovery: The pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party can obtain evidence from the other party.

Duty of Care: The responsibility or legal obligation of a person or organization to avoid acts or omissions that could reasonably be foreseen to cause harm to others.

E

Economic Damages: Compensation for objectively verifiable monetary losses such as medical expenses and loss of earnings.

Emergency Doctrine: A legal principle that may exempt a person from the usual duty of care if they are confronted with an emergency situation not of their own making.

Expert Witness: A person with specialized knowledge qualified to testify in a legal proceeding.

Extended Statute of Limitations: Circumstances that allow for an extension of the typical time limit for filing a lawsuit.

F

Failure to Mitigate: When a plaintiff fails to take reasonable steps to minimize the effects and losses resulting from the injury.

Fault: Responsibility or blame for an accident or injury.

Federal Tort Claims Act: A statute that permits private parties to sue the United States in federal court for most torts committed by persons acting on behalf of the United States.

Foreseeability: The ability to reasonably anticipate the potential results of an action.

G

General Damages: Compensation for non-monetary losses such as pain and suffering or emotional distress.

Good Faith: Honesty in fact in the conduct or transaction concerned.

Gross Negligence: A conscious and voluntary disregard of the need to use reasonable care.

Guardian Ad Litem: A person appointed by the court to look after the interests of a minor or incapacitated person during legal proceedings.

H

HIPAA Act: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information.

I

Inadequate Security: Failure of a property owner to provide reasonable and appropriate security measures.

Independent Medical Examination (IME): A medical examination of a plaintiff by a doctor chosen by the defendant or insurance company.

Indemnity: Compensation for loss or damage; security against legal liability for one’s actions.

Interrogatories: Written questions sent by one party in a lawsuit to an opposing party as part of pre-trial discovery.

J

Joint and Several Liability: A legal doctrine that makes each of the parties responsible for an injury liable for all the damages awarded in a lawsuit.

Judgment: The final decision by a court in a lawsuit.

Jurisdiction: The official power to make legal decisions and judgments.

Jury Instructions: Direction or guidelines given by a judge to a jury concerning the law of the case.

L

Liability: Legal responsibility for one’s acts or omissions.

Life Care Plan: A dynamic document based upon published standards of practice, comprehensive assessment, data analysis, and research, which provides an organized, concise plan for current and future needs with associated costs for individuals who have experienced catastrophic injury or have chronic health care needs.

Limited Tort: An option in some auto insurance policies that restricts the policyholder’s right to sue for non-monetary damages.

Loss of Consortium: A claim for damages suffered by the spouse or family member of a person injured or killed as a result of the defendant’s negligent or intentional act.

Lump Sum Settlement: A one-time payment that settles a claim entirely, as opposed to a structured settlement paid over time.

M

Malingering: Feigning illness or disability to avoid work or gain compensation.

Malpractice: Professional misconduct or unreasonable lack of skill by a professional.

Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI): The point at which an injured employee’s medical condition has stabilized and further improvement is not expected, even with continued medical treatment.

Mediation: A form of alternative dispute resolution where a neutral third party assists opposing sides to reach a settlement.

Medical Lien: A demand for payment that may be placed against a personal injury settlement or lawsuit by a healthcare provider who hasn’t been paid.

Modified Comparative Negligence: A tort rule preventing a damaged party from recovering if they are found to be more than 50% at fault for the incident. This is the rule followed in Illinois.

N

Negligence: Failure to exercise the care toward others which a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.

Negligence Per Se: A legal doctrine whereby an act is considered negligent if it violates a statute.

No-Fault Insurance: A type of insurance policy where insureds are indemnified by their own insurer regardless of fault in the incident.

Non-Economic Damages: Damages for subjective, non-monetary losses such as pain, suffering, inconvenience, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, and loss of enjoyment of life.

O

Offer of Judgment: A settlement offer made by one party to the other during a lawsuit with consequences if not accepted.

Out-of-Pocket Expenses: Expenses paid directly by a person for which they have not been reimbursed.

P

Pain and Suffering: Physical or emotional distress compensable as an element of damage in torts.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP): A type of auto insurance coverage that pays for medical expenses and sometimes lost wages regardless of who was at fault.

Plaintiff: The party who initiates a lawsuit.

Pleadings: Formal documents filed at the outset of a lawsuit stating each party’s positions.

Premises Liability: A landowner’s or landowner’s duty to protect invitees from dangers on the property.

Preponderance of Evidence: The burden of proof in civil trials, requiring that more than 50% of the evidence favors the plaintiff’s side.

Proximate Cause: An event sufficiently related to an injury that the courts deem the event to be the cause of that injury.

Punitive Damages: Damages awarded in addition to actual damages as a way to punish the defendant for egregious conduct.

Q

Quality of Life: A measure of an individual’s well-being used to calculate damages in personal injury cases.

R

Reasonable Person: A hypothetical person used as a legal standard to determine whether someone acted with negligence.

Rehabilitation: The process of restoring someone to health or normal life through training and therapy after an injury.

Release: A document freeing a person from a claim or right of action.

Remittitur: The process by which a court reduces the amount of damages granted by a jury in a civil case.

Res Ipsa Loquitur: “The thing speaks for itself” in Latin; a doctrine that infers negligence from the very nature of an accident or injury in the absence of direct evidence on how any defendant behaved.

Respondeat Superior: A doctrine that holds an employer or principal legally responsible for the wrongful acts of an employee or agent, if such acts occur within the scope of the employment or agency.

S

Spoliation: The destruction or significant alteration of evidence, or the failure to preserve property for another’s use as evidence in pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation.

Statute of Limitations: The time limit for filing a lawsuit. In Illinois, most personal injury cases have a two-year statute of limitations.

Strict Liability: A legal doctrine that holds a defendant liable for damages regardless of fault.

Subpoena: A writ ordering a person to appear in court.

Subrogation: The substitution of one person or group by another in respect of a debt or insurance claim, accompanied by the transfer of any associated rights and duties.

T

Temporary Total Disability: A short-term condition that prevents a person from working and earning income for a limited period of time.

Third-Party Claim: A third party claim is any claim that is brought by a person or party who is NOT the policy holder.

Tort: A civil wrong that causes someone else to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the act.

Toxic Tort: A specific type of personal injury that occurs as a result of exposure to toxic materials or chemicals.

U

Ultrahazardous Activity: An activity so inherently dangerous that a person engaged in such an activity can be held strictly liable for injuries caused to another person, even if every possible precaution was taken to prevent harm.

Underinsured Motorist Coverage: Insurance that protects a policyholder who is involved in an accident with a driver whose insurance is insufficient to cover the damages.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage: Insurance that protects a policyholder who is involved in an accident with a driver who has no insurance.

V

Verdict: The formal decision or finding made by a jury on the factual issues of a case.

Vicarious Liability: The imposition of liability on one person for the actionable conduct of another, based solely on a relationship between the two persons.

W

Waiver: The voluntary relinquishment or abandonment of a legal right or advantage.

Wrongful Death: A civil action brought on behalf of a deceased person’s beneficiaries, alleging that the death was attributable to the willful or negligent act of another.

Injured in Illinois? Get Professional Legal Help Today

Knowing the terminology is just the first step when dealing with a personal injury case. Successfully navigating these claims is much more complex and requires deep understanding of Illinois law and experience dealing with insurance companies.

But you don’t have to face this process alone. At Onward Injury Law, our personal injury attorneys in Bloomington, Illinois, are here to help you every step of the way.

We can:

• Evaluate your case for free
• Explain how these legal concepts apply to your specific situation
• Handle all communications with insurance companies
• Gather and preserve crucial evidence
• Negotiate for the maximum compensation you deserve
• Represent you in court if necessary

If you’ve been injured in an accident in Bloomington, Monticello, Decatur, or surrounding cities, contact Onward Injury Law today to discuss your options.